SUSPECTS who have skipped court appearances risk facing Christmas in jail if they don't give themselves up.

Officers of Newcastle West Area Command have spent the past four weeks running Operation Katch-em, targeting people who are wanted on warrant after they failed to appear in court.

Two uniformed officers are on duty each day to target outstanding warrants.

So far, out of 277, 145 have been tracked down, with 132 still outstanding. Some people have been arrested as far afield as Devon and Glasgow.